Chapter Text
“Demelza, be a darling and pour me another butterbeer, will you?”, called a tall man with thinning blond hair to his red-haired daughter. “Ernest!”, said a woman with hair just as red as her daughters indignantly. She stood right beside her child behind the counter of the Three Broomsticks Inn. “She is eleven years old!” Rosmerta Elliot-Comiskey stood there with her arms crossed, looking at her husband Ernest Comiskey sternly. “Masters learn early.”, he said calmly and winked at his daughter. Demelza, the red-headed girl, manoeuvred herself zealously through the crowd at the bar to her fathers table, delivering his beer. Rosmerta rolled her eyes, but let her daughter work on, in hopes of keeping the nerves of the girl down. The older woman overlooked the inn once more, before she turned around to the door behind the counter, opening it and screaming at the top of her lungs: “Get down, now!” It was silent for a few moments, the busy chattering in the bar coming to an abrupt hold. Then, rumbling steps down the stairs from the upstairs flat of the Comiskeys. Rosmerta had six children, two sets of twins and two boys between them. And there in the door stood her oldest daughter, Rosmerta Elaine Comiskey, or for short “Rosmerta (II)”, depending on what the girl did or didn’t do. She was the younger one of the older set of twins. “Rupert can’t find his wand, mother!”, she said in an annoyed tone and swiped a blonde curl out of her face. “How come that your brother had his wand in hand the whole holiday but can’t find it now?” the mother asked, just as annoyed as her eldest. Rosmerta II huffed and took her trunk. “I’ll be on my way. I want to sit at the great Gryffindor table upfront, to have a good view on the twins being sorted. See you on the next Hogsmeade trip!”, the blonde said and went for the door. She sat the trunk down once more and gave her mother a kiss. “Love you!”, she called, then she was gone. Sometimes her children left her in such a fast manner that it broke Rosmerta's heart, but then again: It only showed the mother that her children were ready to discover the world. Or Hogwarts, for that matter. “Mother, when can I leave?”, Demelza asked once again, returning from her task of bringing the beer to her father. Rosmerta hushed her. “You’ll wait for your brothers and then we’ll decide with whom you will leave!”, she said. Another girl turned up in the doorframe, as if being summoned by her twin sister's question. It was Eartha, the older twin of the younger set of twins. Older by more than ten minutes, as she likes to rub under Demelza's nose. The girls looked very similar, yet not the same. Eartha had their father’s light blue eyes, while Demelza had their mother’s hazel ones. Where Eartha’s hair was straight as a pin, Demelza’s was curly. The twins shared an eager look. They moved as an uncoordinated mess behind the bar, eagerly waiting for their older brothers to show up. Rosmerta was one second short of losing her mind, when finally the three “almost” men of the Comiskeys, as Rosmerta liked to call them, came down the stairs into the inn. “Pardon mother, see you soon!”, another red-head mumbled before rushing to the door. “Not so fast, Rupert!” Rosmerta called, before grabbing her oldest child by the ear. “Mother, I am of age!”, he said with great embarrassment, as the whole bar watched. “And seeing as you are of age and this is your last year you will be attending the girls on their way to the station!”, she exclaimed and pointed her index finger to the twins. She let go of her son when he nodded and started hugging one of her middle children, Dorset. He was rather burly, considering that all other children of the Comiskey were lanky and tall, like a “beanstalk”, as grandmother Corliss liked to say. Dorset was going into his third year, and while none of her children were big troublemakers, Dorset was the one who was least capable of being one. Not one foot out of line, and Rosmerta would never admit it outloud, but Dorset was her favourite most of the time. “I will see you soon.”, she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. She let him go, but not before brushing his blond hair out of his face. He nodded and went to say his goodbyes to Ernest. Averill, the other middle child, was the third eldest. He was blond as well, tall and lanky, just as all the Comiskey children (except Dorset, of course). He too had to undergo the ritual of a big hug and wet smooch before being sent off to his father. Finally, she turned to Rupert. “Fare well my dear boy. Keep an eye on the girls, I’m seeing trouble in this one's eyes!” she said and pointed to Demelza. “No you don’t!”, Demelza exclaimed exasperatedly. Rosmerta hugged her eldest, then the two youngest ones. “Write me letters, my darlings. Weekly! We’ll see each other for the yule celebrations. I expect no messages from the staff, or it’ll rain howlers!”, she said. “Oh, the time!”, she whooped and shooed her children out of the inn.
Demelza couldn’t believe it yet. Finally, after years of listening to her older sibling’s stories, she would be living in Hogwarts as well. With hopping steps she followed Rupert, who levitated the trunkets of the little group in front of them. Oh, all the new people, all the new things she would learn about! What got the girl excited the most was the prospect of living in that castle she only always saw from afar. She would study there, meet new friends there, and she would be able to discover its secrets. Her whole world was changing. They were almost at the stations, when Demelza turned around to grin at her twin, just to see Eartha silently crying. “Eartha! What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly. An annoyed sigh left Rupert's mouth. He wanted to catch one of the carriages up to Hogwarts, and his sisters really shouldn’t miss their first ride with the little keels. “Eartha! Save that homesickness for when you’re up in the castle. We have boats and carriages to catch!” he called and kept on walking. Demelza was aghast at her older brother’s behaviour. She didn’t know him as an unfriendly boy, he was more of the gentle giant. Rupert stopped and grabbed at Eartha's hand to pull her at a faster pace. They did manage to get to the station in time - narrowly though. “The first years are there, goodbye!” Rupert said to his little sisters, then he turned and shouted after a blonde girl climbing into a carriage “Gertrude!”. Demelza kept looking after Rupert's green robes until she couldn’t see him anymore. She would definitely snitch on her brother in her first letter to mother.
Demelza turned back to Eartha, who was speedily catching up to the other first years. A giant of a man stood at the very head of the groups of tiny first years - if Demelza wouldn’t have known the game keeper of Hogwarts by her older sibling’s stories, she would have been scared mindless. But knowing Hagrid to be a very friendly person, she felt the situation was more comical than scary. First and foremost it was exciting!
The twins caught one of the bigger keels, where four students could sit. In their little boat sat another girl with deep skin of umber and pretty doe eyes, and a boy, a little on the chubbier side, but with a friendly face and trusting eyes. He was the first to introduce himself, his name was Peter, and he was incredibly funny. The girl introduced herself as Dorcas, and where Eartha was shy, Demelza was sassy, Peter was funny, Dorcas was the epitome of silent wisdom. Demelza carried huge respect for the black girl the moment she met her, especially when she found out that Dorcas came from Hogsmeade as well. Between getting to know each other and Peter knocking out one joke after the other, the boat trip up to Hogwarts was fast over.
And then the four little first years stood in the second to front row, almost in front of the gates of the great hall. Facing them stood a tall woman with a stern face, who wore old-fashioned velvet robes in a ruby red tone. “Good evening. My name is Professor McGonagall and I will lead you into the great hall in a few moments - where you will be sorted into your house. There are four houses: Gryffindor, with red and gold, Slytherin, in green and silver, Ravenclaw, blue and bronze, and last, but most certainly not least, Hufflepuff with black and yellow. The house that you will be sorted into shall be your family while you stay at Hogwarts. I will be back in a moment, please do practice patience.”, she said earnestly, then she left through a little side door. While Demelza’s heart was fluttering in excitement the whole way up to the castle, just now did the nervosity set in. Which house would be chosen for her? She was ripped out of her thoughts by a very aggressive “Carrot!”. Demelza's attention moved instantly to the aggressor, as she had been called that plenty of times. It was a boy in front of her - tall and scrawny, with unruly hair and round glasses. He pulled at the hair of a girl that, if Eartha hadn’t been standing right beside her, could have been her twin at first glance, which made Demelza extra furious. She pushed the boy from behind and said “Mole!” The boy gave her an angry glance, but was silenced by Professor McGonagalls return. “Well, if you’d follow me.”, she said and the children obediently followed. Nobody wanted to step out of the line on their first day in front of the whole school. Demelza finally had time to just stand and watch in awe, when they were gathered in front of the stool. The sorting hat began singing, but she knew she would hear it a few times more in her life, so she chose to ignore it and look around her. Dozens of candles lit up the hall around them, floating in the air. Up above the candles you could see the actual night sky - it was cloudy and drizzled a little bit, but no raindrop ever touched Demelza's face. There were six tables for students - two for Gryffindor, two for Hufflepuff, one for Ravenclaw and Slytherin respectively. And one for the teachers up at the head of the hall. The Comiskey girl was interrupted in her wonder, when she heard her name being called by Professor McGonagall. “Comiskey, Demelza!” She fought her way up the stairs with wobbly legs, trying not to stumble and embarrass herself in front of the whole school. As she sat down on the stool and the sorting hat covered her eyes, she let out a silent breath of relief.
Later on Demelza Comiskey would be known as “the” hatstall, that one girl who took so long that even Professor Dumbledore got nervous. After five minutes the students began to whisper with each other in an agitated way, after ten minutes Professor Horace Slughorn, teacher for potions, began checking his watch frequently. Then, after a quarter hour, the hat belted into the deafening silence of shock and wonder “RAVENCLAW!”
Professor Horace Slughurn sighed in relief, the students at Ravenclaw began clapping after Professor Dumbledore made a whooping “Oh!” and started to clap. Nobody would ever know that the sorting hat knew where to put Demelza in the first five seconds he got to know her mind. No, it would be their little secret that they talked and talked about most mundane things, such as the reason why Demelza disliked brussel sprouts with a passion and the sorting hat was weary of a rare kind of bird in Dumbledore's office. That there has never been a Comiskey in Hufflepuff. Only the mother Rosmerta Elliot-Comiskey, maiden name Elliot, was a Hufflepuff - but she was married into the family, which didn’t count in Demelza's opinion.
Now that she officially was a Ravenclaw she hopped off the stool and left for the Ravenclaw table, where she instantly spotted her brother Dorset sitting. The blond boy shuffled a little to make space for her and clapped her on the back. “I always knew we were the bright ones of the family!” He praised her with a bright smile, showing off his dimples. Demelza beamed up at him, until she refocused on her shivering twin, getting sorted. Ravenclaw, please let it be Ravenclaw as well, she thought. But the hat thought differently: Eartha was a Hufflepuff, the first Comiskey one at that. Demelza almost regretted talking with the hat about that fun fact, maybe Eartha would have been in Ravenclaw then. But Demelza cheered and clapped anyway. She watched curiously as “Carrot” from before, whose name was Lily Evans, was sorted into Gryffindor, together with “Mole”, who was called James Potter. That poor girl, she thought. Dorcas Meadowes from the boat was sitting with Demelza by now, and they were talking again. Conversation flowed easily between the two girls. She might haven even called Dorcas her first friend already. When Peter Pettigrew, the last person she knew, was sorted, she cheered extra loudly for him, because the people were tired of cheering by now and kept getting quieter and quieter. He laughed at her thankfully from the distance, while he walked up to the second, not so full, Gryffindor table.
Dorcas and Demelza ate and talked until there was nothing left anymore to eat or to talk about. They talked about how it was funny that they didn’t know each other already, considering the village was small and the apothecary of Dorcas’ father was a five minute walk away from the Three Broomsticks Inn. But they were glad all the more to finally know each other - and to be in the same house as well! Dorcas spent the summer months in Wales with her grandmother, which contributed to the fact that they didn’t know each other, as Demelza only really strayed from the Three Broomsticks in the warmer months of the year. After a short speech by Professor Dumbledore about what the students could, couldn’t, should and shouldn’t do, the house of the eagle left collectively for the Ravenclaw Tower, at whose very top the common room sat. Demelza watched the prefects, admiring. Not one of her siblings had been a prefect so far, but maybe that could change, if Demelza just worked hard enough. Maybe she could be the first prefect, something that would make her stand out between the masses of siblings she had.
The group of Ravenclaws stopped abruptly in front of an eagle, or at least a knocker of one. “This is the Asking Eagle, he will ask you a question, a riddle, something that will most certainly make you rack your brains. If you can’t answer you’ll have to wait until someone else can. Good luck with your first question tonight.”, the female prefect explained, then she said to the eagle “Be easy with them, Éanne.” The Asking Eagle flapped with its wings, revealing sharp eyes made of sapphires. “What gets wetter the more it dries?” Éanne asked. Within an instant Dorcas shot “A towel!” The eagle enclosed itself once again in its wings, closed its sapphire eyes and opened the passage to the common room. When the students filed in, they stepped into a circular room, on which outer walls a spiral staircase seemed to climb up endlessly. One could see the dome of the tower from the very bottom of it - painted in a rich, deep blue, with stars glowing down and spreading a soft golden hue to the sparsely lit Ravenclaw Tower. The group went up many stairs, so many that Demelza was quickly out of breath. “It’s eight floors. On the top is the common room, the floors beneath are used for dorms. They don’t have a particular order, you’ll just have to find yours. But you will stay there for the next seven years.” When they finally reached the vault, Demelza had to catch her breath. Not only because of the many stairs climbed, but because of the ethereal glow the common room had.
The Ravenclaw common room was vast. Grande arched windows extended themselves from the floor to the dome. Draped above and around them were sheer clothes of white and blue, flowing softly in the wind, which carried in the smell of earth and pines. Between the arched windows were many bookshelves, all filled to the prim. One was especially interesting, it seemed to softly whisper. “That is the Shelf of Selves.”, said the male prefect. “Every Ravenclaw has the option to leave a part of them and what they consider important in this shelf. It can be anything, and the shelf will always show you what you need to see most.” Demelza stepped closer and indeed - the shelf began to softly hum, then it spit out a photograph. Demelza took it and Dorcas looked curiously over her shoulder. In the photograph was a young, blonde woman with vibrant blue eyes. She had the typical aristocratic straight, slightly bent down nose of pureblood wizarding england. Demelza wouldn’t have known who it was, wouldn’t her grandmother always worn the same hairstyle. A draped, elegant updo. She was sitting in a chair that Demelza just saw, knitting. Suddenly, she looked up with a bright smile and laughed at the camera. Corliss Comiskey was beautiful when she was younger. Corliss that Demelza knew now was a bitter woman, who always had nasty things to say. She was glad not to be named after her, Eartha had that pleasure. Eartha Corliss Comiskey - what a name to behold. But her father, Ernest, always said that Corliss Comiskey was a wonderful mother, a gentle woman, up until the early death of her husband Dorset. Maybe that picture truly was what she needed to see. A glimpse of a woman she thought was mean at heart, but maybe her grandmother just was deeply hurt. She put the picture back into the Shelf of Selves and returned to her prefect. “Who is that?”, asked Dorcas. “Just my grandmother when she was younger.”, answered Demelza.
“If you follow the stairs up there you will find the roof of the tower. But be assured - the Ravenclaw Tower has its own mind and soul and is keen to protect its students. There will be no harm brought to you if you fall. See!”, the prefect said, suddenly turning around and pushing an older boy lingering around over the railing down to the floor of the Ravenclaw Tower. The children could hear him scream, and screamed in turn. That was, until there was a loud “POP!”, and the boy suddenly stood right before them again. “I hate it! I hate you!”, he screamed at the prefect, “It’s always me, why is it always me? I’m going to bed!” The boy raged on, while he left the common room and went down the stairs towards the dorms. “That was Dorian Dimitriou, your head boy. As you can see, it’s not taken kindly if you push people down great heights and I would generally not recommend doing it.”, the female prefect further explained, then she turned to another statue. It was made out of marble and guarded by a door. A beautiful woman with long hair in a flowy gown, wearing a diadem and holding a book. “This is the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. It’s said that she gives you advice in your greatest times of need, but I have never met one who has talked to her. Honestly, I’m sceptical about that rumour. But it’s supposed to be good luck to touch her book before exams, so keep that in mind.” The prefect looked around. “Ah! There are bathrooms at the end of the hall on each floor. And now chop chop! Go and find your dorms.”
Demelza told herself to visit the rooftop next day first thing in the morning, but she was tired now and desperately wanted nothing more than to sleep. Dorcas and Demelza walked the many stairs of Ravenclaw Tower up and down, looking through every corridor to find their dorm. Then, in the middle of the tower, they found a white door with a bronze sign saying “Room 7: First Year - Girls. Comiskey, Demelza. Eaton, Pandora. Eaton, Persephone. Meadowes, Dorcas. Murphey, Mary-Ann.” At the top of the door was a little round window made of stained class. It depicted a little bunny, jumping over a silvery stream at dusk and hiding in its burrow. Demelza looked around. At the end of the corridor was another white door, similar to hers, with yet another stained glass window. It showed a squid, silently tapping against the window. That would be the toilets, probably. Up the hall, in direction of the stairs, were another two doors. Both year sevens, as she saw before. Opposite of her dorm room was the room for the second year boys. “Room 19: Second Year - Boys. Lovegood, Xenophilius. Vermillion, Vernon. …” The sign on the door read, but before Demelza could finish reading the names Dorcas took her arm and led her into her own room.
The room was just as grand as the rest of the tower. Big and airy, and it strongly reminded Demelza of that one vacation her family took, up by the Duncansby Stacks. The room was mostly panelled with wood which was painted white, leaving a narrow strip of deep blue below the ceiling. The planks of the floor were white as well. In the middle of the room was a screen made of rattan, which seemed to be slidable. The windows were similar to the ones up in the common room, just smaller, but with the same drapes of fabric.
“Hello, my name is Mary-Ann.” slurred a deep Irish accent. It was a girl standing behind the screen, looking just around the corner. She had a brunette bob and mousey eyes. She looked a little like the mushrooms that grew in Demelza's garden, but she would have never said that outloud. “Demelza Comiskey.”, the red-head said and walked towards Mary-Ann to shake her already outstretched hand. Dorcas introduced herself as well. Mary-Ann sat down on an armchair which Demelza guessed she intended to claim as her own. The furniture of the room was quite peculiar. There was a bunk bed, beneath it a desk with a chair. To the back was a ladder, to the front was a wardrobe connected. And beside the wardrobe the armchair which Mary-Ann sat on. There were five of these structures in the room, two in front of the screen, three behind it. The bunk beds connected straight to the ceiling, and there were once again screens made of rattan around them. Demelza guessed that if each screen in the room was extended it could get quite private in the room, not being able to see a single person. But then again, it was probably favourable if you had to share your room with four other girls. “It’s grand to meet you two.” Mary-Ann said, “Where are you from?” She had a nice smile, with dimples. “Hogsmeade.” Dorcas answered and Demelza agreed. “Where’s that?” Mary-Ann asked. Demelza looked at her like she said something incomprehensible. “Right here. It’s the village connected to the station?” Dorcas answered. Demelza still looked at Mary-Ann with an odd expression on her face. “Ah! Makes sense. There were no signs though, so I assumed it was Hogwarts Station or some.”
Demelza was shocked to say the least. How could one visit Hogwarts and not know where Hogsmeade was, it was unbelievable. “You know, I don’t have any magic folk. I’m the first bure in my family to get a letter like this. You should’ve seen my parents' faces when we first stepped into Diagon Alley.” Mary-Ann explained. It clicked in Demelza’s head. Of course she knew there were wizarding people who came from muggles, but she never met one before. The Comiskey family was as old as Hogsmeade itself, older than this millenium, so they mostly associated with families who were just the same. It was subsequent that families who knew each other for centuries shared close bonds. “Well, we’ll be allowed to visit Hogsmeade third year and up, so I’ll show you around then.” Demelza concluded and smiled at her new roommate. “It’s getting late, I’m a wee bit tired. Where are the other two?” Mary-Ann asked. Both Dorcas and Demelza shrugged their shoulders. “What were their names again?” Dorcas asked, to which Demelza “They shared a last name!” answered. None of the three girls seemed to remember the names, so Mary-Ann left the room to look at the sign. “Oh goodness!” The girls from Hogsmeade heard Mary-Ann scream. “Oh, hello.” A soft voice answered. Demelza went up to the door to see. In front of her stood two girls who were very pale. “My, I thought I was standing in front of a ghost!” Mary-Ann exclaimed, Demelza thought that quite rude. But the Irish girl was kind of right - both of the girls were very pale, had silvery eyes and hair as bright as the moon. They looked exactly the same, down to the very mole on their noses. Twins, Demelza thought. “My name is Pandora Eaton, this is my sister Persephone.” The girl on the right introduced herself and her sister. Demelza looked them up and down. Eaton was no name she knew. And when she got down to their feet, Demelza saw that they were wearing no shoes. “Don’t worry, it’s not too cold.” Persephone said when she saw Demelza looking at her feet. Demelza did not answer, for she worried she might say something rude. “Come in, I’m ready for a kip.” Mary-Ann said and opened the door wider. She went straight for the bed she claimed earlier, getting her pyjamas out of her trunk. “I’ll be in the bathrooms.” She said and went. “That girl most certainly is blunt, isn’t she?” Dorcas said. Demelza agreed with her.
The four remaining girls sat down on the floor and talked about who would sleep where. There was a short discussion if the twins would sleep on the left hand side of the room with the two beds or the right hand side with the three. Demelza really wanted to sleep on the left hand side - so she convinced the twins with all of the chocolate frogs she had stored away in her trunk. Which was an amount that would have lasted her until the first Hogsmeade weekend, where her siblings could have gotten new ones. But alas - a girl must do what she must do for the things she wants. When the allocation was agreed on everyone went straight to bed - it was a long day afterall.
Grinning like a maniac Demelza laid in her bed that night. She looked up at the ceiling above her. There were golden stars charmed to the ceiling. Demelza didn’t close her screens, so she could see plenty of the room, with all its stars. There were constellations, but also lone ones, and they wandered. Dorcas had her screens closed, so she couldn’t see the girl. But when Demelza looked over to the other side of the room she could see Persephone, who looked to her in the same moment and smiled. Demelza smiled back, then looked to the ceiling again. She felt her world changing, the earth moving around her. Oh, how Demelza loved change.